The skipper, committee member Mary Wills, the boatswain, the
boatswain's mate, Tim, new crewmember Amanda, and cabin girl Hannah
ventured to the banks of the Magothy River to assist Skipper Crabtree
getting the Chesapeake Flotilla Wardroom's flagship der PeLiKan
"ship-shape and Bristol fashion" for the coming Sea Scouting
season. The crew soon became acquainted with the finer points of
mildew removal, toe rail sanding and CETOL application, chipping and
painting the CQR Plow anchor, cleaning out the lazarette, polishing the
topside fiberglass gel coat, coiling lines, exploring the inside of the
refrigerator, and scrubbing the stove. After 6 full hours of work
and fun, we got permission to knock off from Skipper Crabtree. We
then headed to Annapolis to walk the docks, window shop, and get some
ice cream before heading home. Our newest crewmember, Amanda, won
a skipper's commendation as the hardest worker of the day. See photos.

13-15 April 2001: der PeLiKan Marine Engine Course.

Tim and the skipper arrived at der PeLiKan Friday evening and
settled in with the rest of the weekend crew: Boat Captain Steve
Deatherage plus Skipper Gary Troutman and son T. Lee and crewmember Russ
from SSS WINDFALL in Lancaster. We motored to Sillery Bay on the
Magothy River in the lee of Dobbin's Island where we dropped the hook
for the night. Tim and the skipper slept on deck while the others
played cards below. Saturday saw us underway on sail power under
the Bay Bridge and into Annapolis for crab cakes and parts to fix the
forward head. Steve performed a masterful U-turn on this 46' long
boat within the very narrow confines of Annapolis's Ego Alley.
Under clear, sunny skies we proceeded down the Bay, around Bloody Point,
up the Eastern Bay, and into the Miles River to tie up at the Chesapeake
Bay Maritime Museum at St. Michaels, MD. Two USNA sailboats were
also there, so everyone checked out the other's boat(s). Several
Midshipmen were kind enough to spend considerable time talking to Tim
about the Navy, the Academy, and life at sea. Sunday we toured the
Museum, saw the Easter Bunny while walking the streets of St. Michaels,
and attended Steve and Gary's excellent course on marine engines.
After some crab cakes and soft shell crabs for lunch, we headed back for
the Magothy. Rounding Bloody Point, the skies darkened, the wind
picked up, and rain began. With a good stiff breeze, der PeLiKan
got a chance to really stretch her legs, and speeds of up to 6.6 knots
over the bottom were recorded by GPS. Darkness fell as we
proceeded up the Magothy, and by a combination of GPS navigation and a
vigilant bow lookout with lantern, we arrived safely at our berth.
90 nautical miles for the weekend. Sea Scouting as it was meant to
be! See photos.

The Skipper, Chairman Wes Garrod, and Committee member Mary
Wills arrived at der PeLiKan Friday noon and with the help of Jeff
Dombach of SSS WINDFALL in Lancaster, we got the boat opened up.
Davis Jones and Gayle Rubin from Ship 1942 in Alexandria VA arrived
followed by Boat Captain Garth Wells. Departure checklist
completed, we headed down the Magothy River for Annapolis. Winds
were good, and the weather fine. We moored to a buoy in Annapolis
Harbor and had a fine dinner onboard. Saturday was spent with ship handling,
mooring, and light wind spinnaker drills. Jeff also did a nice
U-turn at the end of Ego Alley. Saturday evening we picked up the
mooring buoy again and went ashore for an evening of wild carousing (Sea
Scout style) at a local bistro. We became expert oarsmen rowing
back and forth to the boat in the dingy. Sunday was spent with a
discussion of open-ocean seamanship issues and then wind-puff spinnaker
drills on the way back to the Magothy. We also got to watch an
unscheduled demonstration of the effect of compression forces on
spinnaker poles. With the boat "ship shape and Bristol
fashion", Skip, Wes, Mary, and Jeff went back to Annapolis for
another seafood dinner before returning to York. "A great
time was had by all." No still photos, but I'm hoping to get
some video clips up on the web. Stay tuned.

28 April 2001: CAP Event at U.S. Naval Academy

Trip report by Amanda: Tim, the Skipper, and I visited the
Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. We began our day with a tour of
the grounds. We saw a submarine, an aircraft, the chapel, and a
statue that the Plebes try to climb once it's greased with lard.
We also saw the museum and the crypt. After our walking tour,
Tim and I decided to take a cruise on the Yard Patrol Craft.
That was interesting and educational. Upon arriving back on
land, we saw an anti-terrorism video. Then we were off to the highlight
of our day - lunch. We sat with two Venturing crews and were
amused by their antics. After lunch we walked to the Fire
Station to climb a 70-foot ladder. We did this without incident
and then continued on to the MedStar medical helicopter. By the
time we got to the presentation it was half-over, so we skipped it and
went to the Crown Sailing Center. There we met Captain Moran,
the sailing coach. He gave us a guided tour of one of the
Academy's open-ocean racing sailboats. Then we checked out the
rock climbing gym and drooled over the gorgeous indoor track.
Then we had dinner with a Vietnamese Mariner Scout troop, toured
downtown Annapolis, and returned home.

Skipper Kain represented Ship 25 and enjoyed himself thoroughly as
a guest of Ship 91 of Annapolis (Sally Reuther, Skipper).
Activities included meeting the crew of Ship 91 (fine folks), teaching
knots to the public, hoisting Jonathan up the mast of On to
Fortune, Sally's Moody 376, touring the U.S. Coast Guard Buoy
Tender Rankin, touring the Pride of Baltimore, and
listening to lots of good sea chanteys.

Coach Nate Blackford provided the expertise, the Skipper
provided the audio-visual record, Boatswain Adam and crewmember
Jason provided the muscle, and the combination provided a WIN!
First Place! Considering that Adam and Jason paddled the entire
16 mile course without relief while the other crews switched in fresh
paddlers at the 1/3 and 2/3 waypoints made the victory all the more
sweet. Good work, Crew! WELL DONE!

The Skipper, Boatswain Adam, Blackford, Boatswain's Mate Joe, Crewmembers
Amanda, Tim, Matt, and Leah, plus Committee member Wills enjoyed
the Nygard Regatta despite the rain. The crew took 2nd place in
canoeing, and third places in close order drill and in the
pulling boat events. Skipper was especially proud of the third
in pulling boat because the crew almost decided they were too wet from
the rain to enter. Their success shows what a little extra
spirit and motivation can accomplish. A trip to the local Laundromat
Saturday night dried everyone out. The dance was also well
attended.

Crewmembers Tim and Matt became experienced in coastal piloting
during this weekend cruise onboard der PeLiKan with Commodore Yeckley
and others. They cruised from the Magothy to St. Michaels and
return. Minor casualties occurred with the yawl's starter motor, the
Genoa, and the electrical and cooling systems, but these are
repairable, and Tim and Matt both reported having a great time.

6 June 2001: YAAC Program Launch at Tuckahoe.

The Skipper represented Sea Scouting at the Council's annual
program launch at Tuckahoe. We hope this may in time result in
some new members.

The Skipper, Wes, Leah, Amanda, Adam, Tim, Joe, and Matt took their
respective turns at our Spring fundraiser at Shiloh Nurseries. We
directed cars to parking spaces during Shiloh's Spring Fair. It
was fun using the walkie-talkies, and we all looked "color
coordinated" with our fluorescent orange vests. It may not be
wildly exciting, but it is good revenue for us. The $250 proceeds
will be forwarded to Friends of Sea Scouts of Maryland as a down payment
on our ScoutFleet 2002 adventure.

The Skipper, Mrs. Dull, Joe and Leah left early Friday morning and
drove to Connecticut. After checking into the Red Roof Inn in
New London, we proceeded to tour Mystic Seaport in the afternoon.
We enjoyed various exhibits including the whaling ship Charles
Morgan, the planetarium, a breeches buoy demonstration, and the
boat-building yard. All day Saturday and on Sunday morning Joe acted as
skipper and Leah as crew in a sixteen race series sailed in FJ sailboats
at the Coast Guard Academy. After gaining experience with how to
start a race in the first part of the series, Joe and Leah steadily
improved their standings in the later races. Saturday evening was
spent touring the USS CARON (DD-970) as a guest of former crewmember
Cliff Gordon, now a gunner's mate on the CARON. It was good to see
our old shipmate again. It was a good weekend, and valuable racing
experience was acquired.

7-18 July 2001: Long Cruise in British Virgin Islands
with Ships 1009 and 1942.

The Skipper, Committee Chair Wes Garrod, and Mrs. Garrod,
joined up with Garth Wells and the Crews of Ships 1009 and 1942 for an
eleven day cruise in the British Virgin Islands. The opportunity
arose at the last minute when 1009 and 1942 needed some "space
fillers" to round out a quota of spaces they had reserved on the
various chartered yachts. The skipper got to be a boat captain for
one of the boats, and all three Ship 25 representatives acquitted
themselves well. With more lead time, it would be nice to get
additional Ship 25 participation and do it again. See photos
taken by Sea Scouts from the other Ships.

The following activities were originally on the Ship 25
calendar of events, but had to be omitted due to the temporary
unavailability of the necessary two-deep adult leadership. We'll
try to get to them next year.